KMAX Helicopter!
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- Опубликовано: 19 мар 2023
- Work on the RV-12 briefly interrupted by the arrival of a very interesting and unique KMAX Helicopter. Here's the scoop with Asher and Conner- couple of airport kids.
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ATC here. I work this very KMax (C-FXFT) in and out of RDM nearly every fire season. Thanks for the up close tour!
Keep that flint sharp and your powder dry, my friend. Hope fire season is quiet, I'm in the UK but thank you for doing what you do
Is this a Canadian registration?
Are they using this to load Christmas trees in Oregon? Those guys are amazing....
@@christopherleveck6835 Saw logs
@@restojon1 ⚠️ God has said in the Quran:
🔵 { O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous - ( 2:21 )
🔴 [He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him]. ( 2:22 )
🔵 And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful. ( 2:23 )
🔴 But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.( 2:24 )
🔵 And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they will say, "This is what we were provided with before." And it is given to them in likeness. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally. ( 2:25 )
⚠️ Quran
The reason your videos are so good is you're like a kid on a quad having way to much fun with aviation anything!!
Actually, he was riding the Honda Monkey.
Keep sharing the fun! 🙂. You’re keeping us young.
I spent hours once watching one of these at a logging operation in Wyoming. It is so nice to see one of these up close. I hope you got to interview the pilot for a future video,
People don’t often comment regarding your camera skills, Mr Browne, so I’d like to compliment you. I especially liked the still/static shot of the Honda in front of the helicopter. It’s a clean, dynamic framing. Solid informative narration too.
He's had a ton of practice by now lol!
That was a great shot‼️
1930's German engineers idea that's stood the test of time. Anton Flettner was a very smart cookie. One of these for sale second hand in Australia for $7.5 million dollars. Very rich boys toy.
Fascinating Main Rotor Mechanism there, Leo!
I've always enjoyed those Kaman designs -- not just the Kmax, but there were a number of other types. What a lot of people don't know, though, is that Charles Kaman himself -- the genius who designed them -- really preferred guitars -- and also made the Ovation guitars!
SH-2 Seasprite for the win.
Crazy! I had an ovation guitar but I hated the round back because it wouldn't sit comfortably in your lap.
@@kevinm.n.5158 You put a little bit of the fuzzy side of velcro on the part that rests on your leg. It isn't a perfect solution, but it keeps it from rotating face up so easily. The medium bowl Ovations were particularly bad. The deep 12-string a friend had had a flat spot for your thigh. The shallow could be handled like a Les Paul or Tele
I didn't realise it was he of roundback fame. I've always wanted an Ovation guitar, played a few and they played and sounded lovely, especially when plugged in.
@@dryan8377 Launch LAMPS!
I have done ski lift construction for a living for the past 18 years. Worked under that specific machine numerous times catching concrete buckets and towers. They're awesome!
One flew over my house and it was the wildest sounding helicopter I’ve ever heard. Extremely unique sound…
I saw it yesterday over my place too.
A kmax just flew over my house! Wait. Sorry. Wrong website…
Ever heard an Osprey V-22 go by? Weird.
These were built by Kaman Aircraft in Bloomfield, Connecticut. I worked nearby at that time and watched a lot of its test flights and ground tests. Very unique aircraft.
I used to work at P&W and a couple of others in aerospace companies in CT. I frequently went to Charlie Kaman's open houses and Fidelco Guide Dog fundraisers at his factory. I very cool guy in deed. They had the rotor "test cell" in the field...basically a large circle of wooden telephone poles to prevent a failed rotor from escaping.
Was a police officer in the area and saw these frequently on their test flights from Kaman.
The Kaman intermeshing blade design has been around coming up on 70 years. I knew a couple of pilots that flew them back in the day namely the Husky and the smaller utility/trainer they said they were extremely stable making them very suitable for crane work. One of the pilots had used two Huskies for logging in Southeast Alaska or doing sling loads.
I too worked a short distance from the Kaman facility. I remember seeing them fly around sling loading what looked like telephone poles. Have no idea if that's what they were though.
Kaman used to, or may still do somewhere sell bearings at outlets all over the country. Was very convenient with knowledgeable staff . Now many supply outlets have been sterilized and are a pain to do business with and are usually manned with salespeople who only know only the specs that's on the computer.
Good to see kids learning to debur holes and install Clecos. Good skills that will serve them well!
Maybe those two could build a small “demo” aluminum wing section structure and do a video on it, showing us in minute detail how it’s done. And increase their skills in the process. Maybe wear gloves so as to not ingest any aluminum from their hands?
You just get off on child labor!👶
To see those Kmaxes in action logging a steep hillside that isn't a clear-cut is amazing. Imagine what you do what your lure is stuck and you yank a fishing rod different directions to try to get it back; KMAXes do that while flying and connected to loads that are stuck n other trees.
In the mid eighties I was fishing in the vast Mobile Alabama delta. I saw a Kaman picking up huge logs out of the swamp and delivering them to a barge. My grandfather was a logger all his life. In his later years after using oxen he had a '49 ford dually that he used by riding on logs between the dual rear wheels. He would freak out seeing the Kaman lifting these heavy logs!
I flew the Kaman H-2. Incredibly responsive and smooth. The servo flap control system lets you adjust blade tracking in flight.
Those blades change pitch based on the aerodynamics created by the movement of the flaps.
If you climb up to the top of the mast, you will notice two very unique things:
1) the blades swivel freely
2) the control rods come up through the mast and run out to those flaps (Rube Goldberg would be proud of how Charlie did that).
Very effective, up to a point, but it creates significant drag at high forward speeds.
Thanks for the report on the KMAX...very nice to see that unique heavy-lift helo. The twin rotor intermeshing design actually goes way back to the 1930's when Anton Flettner came up with that design concept in Third Reich Germany. The design was built as the Fl 265, which actually flew successfully.
I'm 67 in 2023. My Father worked and retired as an Aircraft Parts Specialist at the Naval Air Station Alameda. He used to take his 4 children to Air Shows and have us stand in front of Airplanes and take photos of us just like what Juan is doing. He'd also take us into the testing chamber when Turbine Engines would be tested, take us onboard Aircraft Carriers returning from Vietnam 1964-1970 era. Due to multiple family members dying, all the photos are gone but the memories remain.
Them things are so cool. I used to work logistics in fire camp coordinating loads of supplies to the fire line with them guys. Awesome summers great memories! Food, water, tools, supplies to the front lines whatever.
I worked at Scott Paper in Mobile Alabama from 1976 - 1999. The Southeast Timberlands Division that supplied the mill with pulpwood got the third K-Max off the assembly line for their helicopter logging operation. The others they used were stripped down Bell 204’s. I always loved the Kaman HH-43 Huskie with that same intermeshing rotor. Nice catch there Juan.
The huge advantage of tabs is that it reduces the required control forces by a large factor and therefore reduces the weight of the control system by the same factor. The swashplate(s) only need to transmit 1/10th of the force (steady and oscillating) to each blade that a conventional root pitch link system would require for a similar configuration. Even the much older Kamans with a conventional rotor system and tail rotor (Seasprite) used the tab system.
Is that a 'Head Down' display?
Genius idea of putting the critical engine instruments in the pilot's line of vision.
That would be so cool as a kid to hang out with the pilots and the aircraft.
I have caught concrete and tower steel for chairlifts with a kamax picking the loads numerous times, they are nice to work under as the rotor wash is not bad and they can pick fairly well at higher altitudes found at the western ski resorts.
Have you ever picked Christmas trees with one?
@@christopherleveck6835 I'm DYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol
Had a friend who did two tours flying Hueys in Vietnam and was never airsick until he tried flying logging back home. He said learning to look down and "fly the load" rather than fly the helicopter was quite the learning experience.
Guess it was better to learn to fly that way rather than vice versa . . .
Really cool Copter, neat to see it close up. Hard to believe it lifts 6000 Lbs, must have a good engine!
Amazing helicopter. That's a plus having the engine performance gauges situated outside in order to monitor them while looking at what your lifting. It's very interesting .learned something new.thanks Juan
I love the KMAX and the Monkey. I first saw a KMAX near Hoover Dam. I drove strait to the helicopter to find out what in the world it was. Called a Army helicopter pilot friend of mine and he explained it. It is a great design. I would love to have one for sport flying although way too expensive to operate. I've been told it is much easier to fly than a conventional helicopter.
I don't know if it's true, but I heard the military rejected them as they're too easy to fly and transition to other helicopter types would be too hard.
One of the tips I learned while working in Louisiana was to put a small amount of Locktight on the bulb end of the cherry rivet or other blind rivet just before you pull it. The stem gets lubricated while it’s being pulled and you have less rivets the break off short and need to be replaced.
They are sweet! Kaman just announced they are ceasing production of the K-Max.
Worked with the transmission group at Kaman on this back in the 90’s!
The US Army turned this into a resupply drone too. Lockheed-Kaman venture. It was very successful, just never got a contract cut for production.
I worked at the gear house in Michigan that made the gears and transmission cases. Still involved with the heat treat end of it - some challenges there
It was the Marines not the Army though.
Thanks Juan for sharing the grands!
You may not fly for them, but you embrace the sprit of the old Delta ad campaign, we love to fly and it shows. 🤣👍 Fun video.
Thanks Juan! Very amazing engineering. I had no idea about the control tabs on the rotor blades. What a wonderful childhood, getting to hang out at the airport. 😍
Agreed. My dad was an af pilot... he quit flying after that. Always wondered what my life would've been like if he kept flying.
@@dryan8377 Bummer. Yes, my parents disliked aviation so I had to chase after it on my own. Hopefully I'll get my Sport cert this year or next.
@@DougBowman6 Thanks for the response. I think my dad was burned out with the 'regimen' of bureaucracy he had to deal with in the 60's in the military. He flew B-25's and C-47's. Had tons of cool stories growing up as a kid though.
@@DougBowman6 And I must add, that as an older retired guy, I have total admiration for what Juan is doing with his family/kids. Those boys are gonna be amazing. Much like Dan Gryder's. Total respect here.
@@dryan8377 Amen! Same here, total respect & admiration for both Fathers. We need more men like these two gentlemen. They set the bar high for the rest of us. 😊
Good times. Love the kids' smiles, and the shot of the little Honda bike with the K-Max in the background. :)
What a difference 10 days makes ❄️❄️
I was heading toward some alpine lakes here in Idaho a number of years ago (coincidently very close to Juan's favorite little store in Smokey Bar), and deep into the mountains on a rough dirt road, we encountered a flagger! We stopped, and to make a long story short, enjoyed about 30 minutes of watching a KMAX perform logging operations. Amazing thing to watch!
Flew Kaman H2 Seasprites A/Bs and Cs (twin eng). The rotor blade pitch was controlled by flaperons. It was a smooth flying aircraft when the blades were tracked properly.
I can't believe that much snow melted and dissapeared that quickly at the Blancolirio airbase!
I have seen the KMAX at the Redmond Airport (RDM) in the past, so far this year all I have seen is the Erickson sky crane practicing for fire fighting at the Prineville Airport.
This particular K-Max actually stopped for fuel at RDM on his way south. 😊
KMAX is one of the best aircraft designs, period. A highly effective tool. It's a shame they're going out of production.
Quite the crew you've got there. Industrious. That little chopper looks small, but mighty - 🙂
I always wanted to be a rotorhead. I scuffed the idea when I started my flight training back in 1983 when the cost of helicopter lessons was only $140 duel per hour now I think it tops around 550 to 600.
Those are the coolest heli's. Always wanted to make one RC. So cool to watch them working.
Flettner rotor system designed by Anton Flettner in 1940, Kaman used it on the HH-43 Huskie used by the USAF for SAR and again with the K-Max.
damn. An aviation encyclopedia is on the channel! Some deep knowledge right there.
There are a few of us HH-43 pilots still living. I flew that model for the USAF in Utah and in Thailand back in 1973-75. The "tabs" on the rotors are called "flaperons" and they actually twist the rotor blade to control the helicopter in flight.
@@iamnotathome01 I worked on the Kaman H2F/G Seasprite in the Navy for 5 years, the blades were free floating and flap controlled on those also. The Seasprite did have a hydraulic ASE pack that gave autopilot and basically power steering to lessen stick loads but it could be flown ASE off with no issues.
Marines liked HH-43s too. Very easy to maintain. Charles Kaman also designed a device to calculate the best pitch angle for rpm & horsepower of a prop. Worked kind of like a slide rule. Might be more to that than I remember right now, but it was ahead of computers.
The book about Charlie Kaman's life story is an amazing read. He didn't know the meaning of quitting or failure.
I read just last week that Kaman announced it was ceasing production of the KMAX.
Those KMAX birds fly up here in Montana all time during fire season. I spoke to one of the pilots in Missoula and he was espousing their virtues… similar operating costs to Hueys with way more workable load. We always appreciate the work those guys do to keep our community safe.
Awesome. We have those in alaska operating.
Thanks for the refueling episode. 81 year old, left heel diabetic ulcer has me in an assisted living home since 2019. Prior Thursday after work I would drive to a 6 pm reservation at a seafood restaurant one mile west of the Thomasville, Pa airport. Having little over an hour to kill, I would watch planes refueling from the airport parking lot listening to talk radio. Some interesting planes I would run their number that night on my laptop to see where their flight had taken them. Penn State Life Lion and Maryland State medical helicopters were hangered for refueling there.
One of my first jobs was at a small music store. We distributed Ovation & Hamer guitars. All of the SKUs and parts numbers for these instruments were in a dealer book called “The Kaman Music Manual” and it had a picture of this helicopter on the cover, same parent company. Some of our salespeople would double down on their sales pitch and say “if they can build helicopters, they can build a guitar”. Never seen one otherwise, thanks for sharing Juan
“Airport kids”. 😂😂 Love it! I was an airport kid at Gansner. Cute pocket bike? Grom?
Nevada County Airport seems like a real center of Renaissance
Fantastic kids. There still is hope for humanity.
The father of those kids may be arrested for breaking child labor laws in Commiefornia......Calif Gov Numbskull Newsom may be lurking in the area.
Newsom has already banned flatulating cows from the State.
Always informative and this one was especially entertaining, as well. Thank you!
Hello! I stopped by because the thumbnail caught my eye. I've seen this helicopter before, exact tail number. Scrolled through my phone to confirm through photos I took, that this aircraft visited my airport a few months back. I took tons of photos! Gorgeous and interesting machine.
Hey Juan! That KMAX is based out of CZVL, about an hour north of my place! Just a shame HeliQuest doesn't keep their website up to date by the looks of it. Oddly enough, I've never seen their birds in action.
I frequently watched a Kaman Huskie patrolling more than 50 years ago when I lived not far from an air base in the UK. The Super Sabres stationed there used to fly base leg in front of my parents house.
I'm surprised that you didn't mention the military has versions of of the KMAX that are unmanned (drone, remote controlled), and a new version that's fully autonomous.
The Marines were using them in Afganastan.
Some of their systems are built in Owego, NY. And there was a time, a few years ago, we'd see them flying around Western Broome County, which was kinda weird. i actually called ATC in Binghamton, and they refused to "confirm on deny" due to the nature of the mission (test flights of milspec gear).
SKYNET COMES
You remind me of my Dad when we were growing up: Never miss an opportunity to teach your kids something. And the way you do it with style and panache, by riding the dinosaur-powered bikes to get you there. Funny, I never considered you as a panache type of guy. Huh..... Keep up the great fun, er work!
An aircraft that not only is attempting to throw its wings away, but also trying to tie them in knots at the same time!
Wild. Thanks for sharing, Juan!
A friend of mine flies them, I see them all the time. Quite impressive!
The rotors ‘intermesh’ - when your twin rotors are spinning opposite at full power within inches of each other you don’t want them to “tend to fly over each other” lol. Great machines these.
Had a chance to work underneath these as a wildland firefighter for five seasons, and they are amazing aircraft! Very distinct rotor sound too, we could always tell that some BIG help was on the way before it came into view.
I've never seen one of these. Glad to know they are still around. I looked at the old HH43 Kaman Husky at Castle Air Museum a number of times.
RV -12, huh? Seems like a great project, Juan!
No chance those kids aren’t going to fly when they’re old enough! 👍🏻 That is truly an extraordinary machine.
That was awesome! I love that helicopter. Nothing else can match KMAX's capabilities, but unfortunately, the demand is not there to constantly keep the production line going. Kaman Aircraft is shutting down the production line again later this year.
Anything good never lasts these days. 😞
Had two similar ones at Yokota Air Base inJapan. They carried a fire fighting unit over top of F4 Phantoms that declared a emergency as they landed.
What a contraption! Amazing. Thanks for the short tour 🙂
Structural pop rivets
You never cease to amaze with the things you share! Thanks Juan. 👍🏻
I love those KMAX helicopters with that distinct rotor sound. They’re really cool.
it's so wonderful seeing kids learning a skill that one day they can market.
This is my favorite flying game machine ever. Not even close.
That's cool as hell!
Thanks, Juan
Kaman made the HH-43 “Huskie” for the US Air Force we used in crash-fire-rescue back in late 50’s - early 70’s. It was well suited for the task. Thanks for sharing this.
Here in the UK I lived near the USAF base at Bentwaters in Suffolk and they used to fly a Karman Husky. Same configuration but wide body. I was told that it was used for fire/rescue duties on the base bit it would sometimes stray some way from the base on practice flights.
Midland air museum at Coventry has a Husky on display
The boys are back in town!
As a former Army helicopter mechanic that design intrigues me. I wonder how hard it is to keep the blades in track and how complicated the transmission must be. If anyone has knowledge about working on these aircraft a couple lines here in the comments would be appreciated. Of course there always seems to be very knowledgeable people on most any aviation subject here on the blancolirio channel!
The Russians have many great designs from smal all the way to potent attack twin design ones
For a military aspect of this design you might want to look into the now retired Kaman HH-43 Huskie that the USAF stationed at the bases back in the day to provide quick accident support and fire suppression.
CH 47 has 5 transmissions...Thus would have a power in with 2 power out similar to the CH47 combining transmission..Which has two engine power in and 2 power out..
I'm an army hooker from 82 to 87
I'm not a mechanic, but it looks like it has two regular gear reduction helicopter transmissions that are tilted outward.
@@remain_nameless Thanks for the info!
First time I saw one of those I had to google an animation of how the rotors work, the way I was looking at it I couldn’t see how they cleared. But they do!
That is quite interesting. Gonna go have a look at the RV-12 video now.
03:44 Love the "Pistol Pete" eyes in the K-Max!
I suspect a couple airport kids are going to grow into a couple substantial adults.
Great to see!
Thank you for the best close-up footage of the K-MAX that I have seen to date!
That KMAX is a REALLY unique piece of engineering. Reminds me of the CH-46 & 47 IF only for the double-bladed system albeit horizontally instead of ‘in-line’ placement. I’ve always wondered HOW they were ACTUALLY flown with ZERO TAIL rotor for torque control..
Actually this is based on the H-43 Husky. My dad flew it the AF in the 60s including in Vietnam. They were used for rescue and fire fighting. They would hover over a crashed airplane and beat back the flames with the down wash so the firefighters could pull out the crew. Crazy but they really did it.
Imagine if the CH's were dual twin rotor
I built the Kaman HH-43B Huskie (sheet metal mechanic) from 59 to 69. It was the forerunner to the KMAX with an intermeshing rotor system, no tail rotor. The Huskie was an Air Force aircraft that served as a rescue and fire suppression aircraft. They saw service in Vietnam. There may still be a few that were converted to civilian use operating in the Northwest. A truly unique helicopter.
For even more appreciation of the design, research what happens when a Kaman autorotates. It's genius that someone had to figure all of that out!
The K-Max is one of the greatest machines ever built. Many more should be produced.
I have hazy memories of Kaman Huskies being used by the USAF at Upper Heyford in England when I was a kid during the 1960s. Clever design!
I've spent my career flying in helicopters (as a medic) these helicopters make my brain hurt when watching the rotor blades intertwine. Very cool machines though
wow that is one cool helicopter!
I saw the HOnda Z50 and it shot me back to my youth. Beautiful minibike. Thanks for the reminder. ANd thank you for sharing your knowledge of this great helicopter. The story you told of it being a workhorse in it's abilities and for the pilot to control reminds me of the days before power steering and power brakes.
Always found the Kaman line of helicopters fascinating. Thanks for showing this one .
Awesome stuff. I’ve got a friend of mine building an R7 right now. It looks like tedious, but fun, work.
We get these up here a lot during fire season. Interesting to talk with pilots. That one has been here I am sure. They do NOT want to fly straight by themselves.
You fight them all the way. Also to have trim tabs on the blades. Very cool machines.
Yes!
Get them started with Clecos as young as possible😎
keep the boys working their doing a good job. Like to see you fly down to the New Old Tulare Lake.
That's wild! From the footage, it looks like the blades would collide :)
They are offset by 90 degrees and connected by a transmission. It’s impossible for them to collide :)
_USS Kitty Hawk_ had one of those do a VERTREP in the last 1990s, the MSC ship we were VERTREPping with had one on board to test out the concept as an experimental contract. Must not have worked out, as H60s are used for that now. Wikipedia says that Kaman did not build many of those, perhaps 30, with about 20 still flying.
They used one of these at Squaw Valley (now Palisades Tahoe) a few summers ago for a chairlift replacement project. Pilot was really nice & fun to talk to.
I think he's in the comments above lol!
The gauges mounted to the outside is one of my favorite, weird but absolute genius things about this helicopter.
Love the eyes painted in the cockpit
Great to see you out with the boys, checking out crazy aircraft!